The Accident of BirthA person's place of birth can disproportionately affect their quality of life. Where per capita income is low and public education is not as ubiquitous as in much of the first world, people often experience oppressive limitations in terms of economic opportunity. In India, the cultural remnants of the caste system and a general lack of social equality represent almost insurmountable barriers for those who are poor. Many Indian families, like those seen in Behind the Beautiful Forevers, often go generations with little or no improvement in quality of life. People who populate slums like Annawadi are usually victims of the accident of birth, meaning they are born into poverty. However, although birth determines economic opportunity, it is worth noting that the accident of birth can have an aggregate effect when already resource-constrained societies continue to increase population. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In Behind the Beautiful Forevers, it is shown that everyone in Annawadi is aware of the three main ways to get out of poverty (Boo 62) . It is possible to find an entrepreneurial niche and thus generate an income for yourself, thus raising your standard of living (62). You can also try to counteract the corrupt system that seeks to keep the masses in poverty for its own benefit (62). However, many people look to education as a means to escape poverty (62). Each of these methods has advantages and disadvantages, and each of them is often very difficult for various reasons. Finding an entrepreneurial niche is often cited as a way out of poverty. For example, the Husain were able to use the skills their family had accumulated over generations to be above average successful as recyclable scavengers (62). However, without any type of financial education and access to capital, it is often insurmountably difficult to carry out any type of entrepreneurial activity, particularly when the ultimate goal is to run a business in these low-income regions. Furthermore, due to a lack of financial skills, many of these people may end up running almost identical businesses and competing with each other often in destructive ways. This is exemplified by the extraordinary number of scavengers living in Annawadi and other slums constantly fighting over dustbins like street gangs. This is also a function of population, which raises the aforementioned issue of high birth rates. Working with a corrupt system can often provide a framework for an eventual legitimate rise into the middle or upper class. For example, we can look at Asha, who is the unofficial slumlord of Annawadi (17). One of its main sources of income is securing loans for Annawadi residents, presumably to jump-start businesses (24). However, he takes the money from the loans as commission (25). In this scenario, theft might not be considered bribery if the circumstances were normal. However, the loans are intended for small businesses and are granted based on the number of jobs the new business will create (24). Since Asha's only share in the loan is the commission, she doesn't care if the venture will create jobs, or even if there will be a venture. This short-sighted self-interest is detrimental to Mumbai's economy because the borrowed government funds may not be repaid and thus public money will be wasted. Asha is not just a middlemanfacto of government loans. It also provides residents with access to education or employment, usually also for a fee (21). With the money accumulated from these corrupt activities, Asha managed to send her daughter Manju to a reputable school so that she could get an education and lead a productive life. Through this investment in human capital, it is hoped that Asha can improve the standard of living of her entire family. On the subject of birth rate, it is worth noting that Manju is an only child. Education and vocational training are perhaps the most common way to raise your standard of living. In general, poor people are low-skilled or semi-skilled workers. The fact that they are not necessarily trained in anything unique or sophisticated is what prevents them from finding paid employment. This reduced job opportunity comes from having lower skills than those who are more educated. Since they are unable to seek paid work, they are often unable to send their children to the same schools they themselves could not afford, and the cycle continues. One of the main problems in Annawadi is that there is very little public access to education. Furthermore, available public schools are generally of poor quality. For example, among available public schools, only about 40% of teachers already have a college education (63). Furthermore, schools generally have access to minimal public funding. This can be attributed to the fact that these schools are often the result of corrupt attempts to maintain an image rather than truly altruistic attempts to educate people (63). In this society, general corruption has absorbed the mission of education and investment in human capital. Adding to the problem, a society with a rapidly increasing population will make it more difficult to benefit from pedagogical institutions due to increased pressure on resources. Large class sizes are proven to reduce the overall quality of education, but this is especially true in settings where resources are already limited. For example, it is highly unlikely that there are any textbooks or workbooks available to public school students in Annawadi. Therefore, even if there are schools available, they do not necessarily offer the benefits one might imagine. This indicates that increasing access to education is probably not the only solution to poverty. In places like India that have a historic caste system with persistent social effects, often none of these above-mentioned methods will improve job prospects. Their low caste may, for a start, reduce access to education and jobs. Furthermore, attempts to include historically low-caste people in jobs and governments are often circumvented by corruption. For example, a man named Subhash Sawant, running for Corporator, was not a member of a historically low-caste lineage (51). However, he managed to produce documentation stating this and managed to participate and win the elections (51). This fraud case entitled him to a position meant for historically oppressed Indians. High levels of corruption will prevent even the noblest attempts to include oppressed peoples in a society's governance and economic activity from achieving meaningful results. Those in positions of power, without governance alone, will simply continue to manipulate the system to maintain their power. This means that attempts by the government to create opportunities for the existing population without changing the overall system of government cannot be the only solution to poverty. Since there is very little ability to educate i.